Waltzing in the Sand
by The Moot
Summary: Another GaaLee shonenai. Gaara finds that love is a difficult emotion to handle, and Lee doesn't understand his friend's change in behavior. The first two chapters have kinda been revised. I'm having problems with the third chapter. Bear with me.
1. Chapter 1

**AN- FYI, this story isn't finished. I'm having trouble with the third chapter. My Sensei edited this story for me, so this is the sorta revised version, but critiques would still be nice. Enjoy.**

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"Good afternoon, Gaara-sama!" Rock Lee said rather loudly as he stepped into the Kazekage's office.

Gaara looked up and nodded his head at Konoha's green beast. "Lee."

"I have a message for you from Hokage-sama." He took off the bag on his back and pulled out a plain, unmarked envelope and placed it on the desk. Gaara opened it, skimmed through the contents, and called in a jonin that was outside the door to take it and deliver it elsewhere. Then he stood and walked to the opposite side of his desk to stand in front of Lee.

"Well," Lee started, "My mission is complete now, so…"

"Our response will be ready soon, and it's getting dark. Wait until morning."

Lee smiled. "Of course."

It was always like this. They've been friends since they were twelve and fourteen, about five years now. Living in different villages in separate countries meant they got very little time to spend together. Whenever one got the chance to visit the other's village they would look for excuses to delay each other.

They dropped Lee's pack off in a guest room in the Kazekage's home and proceeded to walk around the village, deep in conversation. Of course, a typical conversation between those two boys was Lee doing most of the talking and Gaara simply smiling and nodding.

"So anyways," Lee continued when the conversation got off track, "I was ready to ambush the enemy when Neji activated his Byakugan and said that it was a trap. He said the enemy we were looking at was a genjutsu trick, and the real enemy was hiding nearby, ready to ambush us when we attacked the fake one. So Tenten and I pretended to attack the illusion and Neji caught the enemy from behind when he jumped out."

"So you counter-ambushed the counter-ambusher of your ambush?" Gaara asked, keeping his face as straight and emotionless as ever, though amusement twinkled in his eyes.

Lee's momentary confusion melted into a goofy grin when he realized that was Gaara's odd sense of humor showing. "Er, yeah, I guess."

"I see." Gaara's mouth curled up ever so slightly. Lee tensed up and blushed- the young Kazekage apparently enjoyed teasing him, and they dry tounge-and-cheek manner he went about it only made it worse.

"Hey!" Lee started, but was cut off by a wall of sand that suddenly towered over them. The sand trickled away to reveal several kunai and, a short distance away, the man who threw them. He had his face covered, but a sand shinobi headband was clearly visible. He immediately rearmed himself and rushed toward Gaara. Naturally, Gaara stood still, confidant that the sand would protect him from such a sloppy attack, but it never got the chance as Lee rushed forward to meet the attacker.

He managed to dodge Lee's first move but wasn't fast enough to avoid a crushing round kick to his ribs. He jumped back a few feet and Lee followed with his fist ready. The mystery man barely saw the attack in time to raise his arm, blocking with the sharp edge of his kunai.

In an instant sand was swirling around them both, pushing Lee back and imprisoning the attacker from the neck down. He struggled for a brief moment then cried out in pain as the sand crushed his limbs, paralyzing him so that he could be arrested without trouble.

Lee relaxed his posture and let out a relieved breath. He opened his mouth to say something when Gaara grabbed his hand.

"You're bleeding." There was a subtle bite to his words.

Lee looked down at the blood covering his knuckles and running down his arm. "Oh, I think I hit his kunai."

"You shouldn't have attacked him."

"But, Gaara-sama, he attacked you."

"He attacked me, and you're the one who ends up injured," his voice clearly had an angry edge now. "Why the hell can't you think before you jump on things? You're too careless."

"I was trying to protect you."

Gaara pushed Lee's bleeding hand away. "Damn it, Lee, I can protect myself! What if he was more dangerous? What if more than your hand got injured? You never stop to think before you run head on into danger!"

Lee was taken back by the outburst. "Gaara-sama, I-"

"Don't, Lee. Don't 'Gaara-sama' me. Damn it, I am so fucking sick of this!" Without another word he disappeared in a whirlwind of sand.

Lee stood there, staring speechlessly at the spot Gaara was standing only seconds ago. One of the guards who came to arrest the attacker walked up beside him.

"Kazekage-sama hasn't gotten that angry in years. What happened?"

"I… tried to protect him."

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A small sigh escaped Gaara's lips as he watched the moon rise. He was in his favorite star gazing spot, floating high in the air on a cloud of sand a little ways outside the village's walls. Everyone knew better than to disturb him here. The sun had set less that an hour earlier, and his had been a couple hours since the incident with Lee.

It still troubled him- why did he blow up at Lee like that? Sure, it was annoying that he got hurt in a fight he needn't be in, but that's just how he is. It would be unlike Lee not to attack anyone who was a threat to his loved ones. Likewise, it was unlike Gaara to lose his temper at his loved ones, especially Lee. Ever since Uzumaki Naruto defeated him in the chuunin exams when they were younger, Gaara taught himself to control all of the negative emotions Shukaku fed on. Why would Lee of all people make him lose it?

_Perhaps you should just kill him_, the one tailed demon whispered in his mind. _I told you it was foolish to trust people. Nobody loves you. It will always end in pain._

Gaara promptly told him to shut the hell up and pushed him as far into the back of his mind as he could. No, the answer wouldn't come to him and Shukaku wasn't helping. He wasn't the best at dealing with people, but maybe he should go talk to Lee.

He floated smoothly back down to the village and straight to the door of the large house he and his siblings shared. When he reached the room Lee was using, however, he found it to be empty.

"Gaara?" Gaara looked down the hall to see Kankuro walking toward him. "If you're looking for Lee, he already left."

Gaara stared at his brother for a moment, then closed the door and crossed his arms. "Does he have the message?"

"Yeah, it was ready a while ago. He left as soon as I gave it to him." Gaara nodded and started walking down the hall past Kankuro. "Gaara, did something happen?"

The red haired boy stopped but didn't respond or turn around to face him.

Kankuro hesitantly continued. "Because Lee seems to think you're angry with him." Again, there was no response. "Gaara, are you-"

"No," he interrupted, turning his head to look at him. "I'm not. I just…" He looked down, letting the half completed sentence die.

The older brother stepped to the younger's side. "Just what? What happened?"

"…I just… yelled at him earlier. He got injured trying to protect me. I guess it made me angry, and I took it out on him."

"Protect you? From what?"

"Some lunatic attacked me."

"Huh." Kankuro shifted his weight and put his hands in his pockets. "I would say that you ought to apologize, but you wouldn't catch up to him now."

Gaara glared at him out of the corner of his eyes. "I know that. Right now I'm concerned with why I lost my temper."

"Didn't you say it was because he got hurt fighting for you?"

"That shouldn't be enough to set me off. It's in his character. Besides, he's been through a lot… worse." He choked a bit on the last word, remembering that he himself nearly killed the boy once. "I don't see why it pissed me off so much."

Kankuro looked up and thought for a moment, then motioned with one hand. "Come on, let's walk." Gaara went along wordlessly. He knew his brother was going to head toward the kitchen. "What about it made you mad? Specifically."

"…Him getting injured because of me."

"Because of you?"

"He was protecting me."

"…What would you do if it was more than a minor injury? If he broke some bones or got knocked out?"

"I'd kill whoever did it," Gaara replied calmly, as though the logic was very elementary.

"Right… And what if someone were to kill him?"

Gaara's shoulders tensed and his eyes narrowed. "I'd hunt that person down and tear him apart piece by piece as slowly as physically possible."

This made Kankuro visibly shudder. He's heard some sinister threats before, but he knew Gaara's were never empty. The silence stretched out awkwardly for a long moment before he spoke again. "…Um, just how much do you care for that guy?"

Gaara looked up at him. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you aren't exactly the most sociable guy around," Gaara half shrugged in agreement, "but you seem really attached to thick-brows."

Gaara looked forward thoughtfully for a moment. "…He is… my friend." He spoke slowly, struggling to find the right words. "I… have respect for him."

"Uh-huh. And what about Uzumaki and Uchiha and Nara and your other friends?"

Gaara's eyes narrowed. "It's different."

"How so?"

"It… It just is." The tone of his voice clearly said he was losing his patience with his brother's questions. Kankuro got the message and remained silent as he opened the door to the kitchen, Gaara entering first. He set about heating water for tea and rummaging through the cupboards looking for a snack. Settling on a bag of chips, he sat down across from Gaara at the small table in the corner of the room.

"Well?" Gaara asked impatiently.

"You wanted to know why you lost it at Lee, right? I'm working on it."

"The questions you've been asking hardly seem relevant."

"Not entirely."

Gaara was skeptical, but said nothing as his brother stood and walked over to the whistling tea pot. Kankuro poured two cups of tea wordlessly, put a bit of milk in one, and sat down while handing the other cup to his red-haired sibling. He opened his mouth to say something when Temari walked in.

"Hey," she said casually walking over to the table but not taking a seat. "What's with the heavy, serious air over here?"

"Gaara got angry at Lee but he can't figure out why," the middle sibling answered.

The blonde looked directly the indicated brother at the opposite side of the table. "Really? You had a fight with fuzzy brows?"

"Not exactly," he responded, looking away for a moment but regaining his composure quickly. "It was more like I yelled at him and left."

"What happened?" Gaara quickly summed up the afternoon's incident as Temari sat down between the boys. "So you didn't get the chance to tell him you weren't really mad at him, and now we're trying to think of why you exploded in the first place?"

"Pretty much," Kankuro said behind his cup. "All I got so far is that he has a lot of respect for the guy."

Temari softly shook her head. "You two are so dense. Gaara, you like Lee, right?"

A flicker of annoyance flashed in Gaara's eyes. "Yes, we already went over that."

"You get excited whenever you see him?"

"Well, yes, because we don't see each other often."

"Does that include a fast pulse and turning stomach?"

Gaara didn't respond verbally, but his eyes widened at his sister's question. Kankuro looked between the two, trying not to believe what he was hearing. "Hey, Temari, it's not like… You don't really think… He's not like that! Temari, come on he's not…"

"What?" The youngest asked, clearly irked by now. "What are you getting at?"

Temari sighed. "I think I know what the problem is. Gaara, little brother, I think you're in love."

Gaara immediately stood and walked past his siblings in an attempt to hide the blush that was rapidly growing on his cheeks. "Don't be stupid," he growled, not turning around. "I can't love." He walked out the kitchen door without another word.

Kankuro looked at Temari, shocked. "…You really think he's…?"

Temari just shrugged. "Think about it. Does he ever smile when fuzzy-brows isn't around?" She got up and left, leaving him to ponder the question.

Eventually he got up too and began putting away his snack, shaking his head and softly mumbling, "There is no way I'm related to these people…"

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**END FIRST CHAPTER.**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN- Hurray, the second chapter. Que confetti.**

**Also, I don't have the slightest idea what I'm doing with the next chapter. It may take a while to update. Bear with me.**

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"Come in." Lee opened the door and stepped into the Hokage's office. Tsunade looked up from her paperwork. "Lee, I need you to deliver a package to Suna."

Lee hesitated, then responded, "Yes, Tsunade-sama."

She raised an eyebrow. "Everything okay?"

"Well… Last week Gaara-sama seemed mad at me, so I'm not sure he'd want to see me…"

Tsunade sat up straight and looked at him critically. "What do you mean?"

"He sort of… yelled at me after someone attacked him and I got hurt when I fought the attacker, but I was really just trying to protect Gaara-sama, but that made him angrier, so…Er…"

"Lee, do you think it will prevent you from completing you mission?"

"Well, no, probably not, but-"  
"But nothing. Shinobi shouldn't allow personal problems affect their performance on missions. You're the fasted ninja we have, Lee. Deal with Gaara after you finish your business with the Kazekage."

Lee hardened his features and snapped into a salute. "Yes, Hokage-sama."

"Good." She pushed a small box on her desk toward him. "The contents of this package are fragile. You need to deliver it quickly, but carefully." The dark haired boy picked the box up and saluted once more before Tsunade dismissed him.

He packed his bag quickly, carefully securing the box down so that it wouldn't move. Within minutes he was sprinting out of the front gates and into the trees. His expertly trained body automatically set itself on the familiar path to the desert, freeing his mind to wander.

The scene from a week ago replayed itself again in his mind. Gaara grabbing his bleeding hand, flashes of emotion escaping his fortified face. He tried to calm the younger boy down, only causing more anger. Gaara letting go of him, yelling at him, losing control. The look in his eyes before he disappeared, the grim reminder of his instability and the demon within him…

Lee shuddered involuntarily. Gaara hadn't looked at him with those eyes since the chuunin exams four years ago. He had gained control of himself and Shukaku since then, so what happened? He was just trying to protect him, but Gaara got angrier when he said so. Perhaps he was insulted? Lee knew he could defend himself, very well in fact, but protecting his loved ones was just Lee's thing. Gaara ought to know that.

Maybe it was because he got injured. His desert-born friend always seemed to get frustrated whenever he got hurt. He once got a fairly harsh scolding when he got heat stroke after being warned not to train under the sand village's sun. But this time it was simply a flesh wound, on his hardened knuckles no less. Everyone, especially Gaara, knows that Rock Lee, the beautiful Green Beast of the forest, can take some hard knocks.

Come to think of it, the past few visits he's made to Suna Gaara has seemed a little off. Not necessarily in a bad way, just different than usual. For one, he's been smiling and letting his sense of humor, albeit dry and a little mean, come out. He appears to be calmer and happier that he used to be, if only while Lee's distracting him from his work.

His work… Maybe, that's it, maybe his duties were stressing him out. But that really isn't enough to explain his outburst…

Lee continued to ponder the matter for two days until he reached the sand village. He still had no solution as he showed the guards his passport and made his way to the Kazekage's building. His stomach did a half-flip that brought his thoughts back to Earth when he saw the door to the office open with Gaara inside looking down at the papers on his desk, but he threw his shoulders back and walked up to the doorway, looking more confidant that he felt.

He made his presence known with a sharp knock on the door frame. "Gaara-sama, may I come in?"

The Kazekage looked up, but looked back down at the paperwork on his desk the moment they made eye contact, his features as unreadable as ever. "Yes, Lee?"

Lee approached the desk and pulled out the package. "Hokage-sama requested that I give you this." He put it down in front of Gaara, who picked it up and opened it. Inside was a short letter and several unlabeled vials of liquid. Gaara skimmed through the letter, closed the box, and stood to walk toward the door. Lee followed him with his eyes but stood still. He knew Gaara quite well, but it was still next to impossible to guess what he was thinking when he got like this. The redhead paused at the door and half turned his head to look at Lee out of the corner of his eye.

"Well? Are you coming?"

Lee relaxed and gave him a lopsided grin. "Yeah, right behind you." He followed him out of the room and eventually the building. "So," he started, putting one hand behind his head, "I guess you're not mad anymore?"

Gaara turned his head and locked their gazes for a long moment before looking forward again. "I wasn't mad at you."

Lee's smile grew. "Oh, that is relieving to hear! I was afraid something was wrong."

Gaara didn't respond. They walked for a couple more blocks until they reached the hospital. He gave the box to the nurse behind the front counter, then walked outside and stopped, looking up at the cloudless sky.

"Gaara-sama?" Lee asked, "Are you okay?"

"…Lee," he started, but hesitated when his eyes met the older boy's. He sighed and looked away. "Don't call me 'sama'."

"Oh, okay… What should I call you?"

"I don't know. It's just too formal."

"…Is Gaara-kun okay?" Gaara shrugged and began walking, Lee following close behind him. "Well, Gaara-kun, what would you like to do?"

The question was never answered, and they both remained silent until they turned a corner and ran into Kankuro.

"Oh, hello, Kankuro-san," Lee greeted him with his usual smile. The puppet master nodded his head in acknowledgment, then looked between the two critically.

"Gaara, Temari wasn't serious, right?" Gaara stared at him blankly. "Well, she wasn't right, was she?"

The Kazekage narrowed his eyes and brushed his fingers over the tattoo on his brow. "Don't be stupid."

Kankuro analyzed Lee, then shrugged and walked away. "Um, Gaara-kun, what exactly just happened?"

"…Temari said something ridiculous recently."

"Temari-san? It doesn't seem in her character to say ridiculous things…"

"Well she said something, and it was wrong." His voice had a slight edge and he continued to feel the tattoo.

"Gaara-kun? Are you alright?" Although there was no verbal answer, Lee could see his face clearly saying, 'No, I'm not alright, there's something very wrong'. Out of habit he reached out one hand, hesitating only slightly before resting it on Gaara's shoulder. "Gaara-kun, what's wrong? You can tell me."

Gaara closed his eyes but otherwise didn't move. "No."

"But, Gaara-kun-"

"No, Lee." Gaara moved a step away and crossed his arms, breaking away from Lee's hand in the process. "I can't tell you."

Lee subconsciously assumed an apologetic expression. "Am I not trustworthy?"

"It's not that, I'm… incapable. I can not tell you." Lee tried to say something but found there was nothing he could really do at the moment. "I need to find Temari." With that Gaara turned and began to walk away.

"Oh…" Lee said, a bit dispirited. "I guess… I'll be seeing you, then." He watched Gaara's back for a moment, then made his way to the village's front gate.

Gaara found Temari in her room at her desk. She instinctively covered whatever she was writing, but relaxed when she saw who it was. "Oh, Gaara, it's you. Do you need something?"

"Yes. You seem to know a lot about… You know…" He lightly stroked his tattoo.

"Love?"

"Yes. I need advice."

She turned her chair around to face him. "Okay, shoot."

"Should it… Is it supposed to be painful?"

"Depends. What sort of pain?"

"Losing control of my body, my mind shutting down, overall anxiety and confusion."

"Mm…Yeah, that sounds about right."

"How do I make it stop?"

"Well, love is an instinctive thing, and usually can't be controlled. Either you can wait for it to wane, which will take a long time and isn't guaranteed, or you can try to get him to love you back, which is also not guaranteed but, if successful, would change the pain into a good feeling."

The younger sibling closed his eyes and sighed. "I didn't want this. It… It isn't fair."

"No." She shook her head. "It isn't. But it's something that happens to everyone. Even you."

"…How should I do this?"

"Do what?"

He opened his eyes and resumed his usual stoney expression. "Get him to love me back. Is that not the best course of action?"

"I suppose. You could drop subtle hints and wait for him to get a clue, but seeing as he lives three days away, that may take awhile. There's always the method of just telling him you love him and see how he reacts."

"Just go up to him and say, 'I'm in love with you'?"

"That, or 'Will you go out with me' or 'I want to be your boyfriend' or something like that. When's the next time you'll see him?"

Gaara subconsciously looked out the window toward Suna's front gate. "He only left a few moments ago, and he should stop for the night in an hour or so." He turned to head out the door.

"Good luck." The young Kazekage turned his head to look at his older sister. Over the past four years their relationship had been slowly evolving from hate and fear to a sort of awkward politeness, but they both knew the friendly undertones where sincere.

He softened his features and nodded, which she took as a 'thank you'. Then he was out the door and heading in the direction of Konoha, and Lee.

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**END SECOND CHAPTER. Again, the next one may very well take an eon or two. It's not cooperating with me. Tis sadness. It will be updated eventually, though. Someday.**


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